Hibana: Keeping Promises
by Hopeakaarme
Summary: As Dan drops by Yamabuki's practice in his Hibana Chuu school uniform, Sengoku wonders why Dan didn't go to Yamabuki. Dan reveals some things Akutsu would rather not announce. Implied shounen ai AkuDan. AU.


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Konomi Takeshi does. I'm merely playing with them for the moment.

A/N: This fic belongs in the _Hibana_ AU. Note that in this AU, Banji recruited Akutsu in his second year, which is also when Dan started to follow him around.

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Keeping Promises

In Yamabuki, as all schools, there were certain things that were more likely to be heard than others. Sometimes it was jokingly said that "Yes, buchou," was one of the rarest sentences in the tennis club, but aside from being somewhat cruel, this was also very much untrue. Minami might not have been the flashiest of captains, but when he did speak up, his team at least listened if nobody else. The problem being, it was rather rarely that he chose to do so.

Nevertheless, there were certainly far less frequent phrases one might have mentioned. Though there had obviously never been an official list or any such statistics, some things would, when said, gain far more signs of surprise and even shock from people than others. And, for better or worse, a very cheerful voice chiming, "Akutsu-san~" from the edge of the courts was definitely one of such things.

Somewhat paradoxically, Akutsu was just about the only one who didn't look over at the sound of his name. Those who did turn to look saw the figure of a boy standing up on the top of the stands, looking down over the courts. It was hard to tell because of the distance, but he didn't look very old at all; perhaps a first year, certainly not more. He was clad in another school's uniform, with black pants and a dark red blazer setting him very clearly apart from any Yamabuki students.

As the first call didn't seem to bring any reaction, the boy set his hands on his hips in a rather impatient gesture. "Akutsu-san!" he called out again. "You're not busy practising. I can see you~"

"Well, well," Sengoku murmured. "Someone's not too concerned for their safety." He glanced over to where Akutsu was currently indeed lazing around, bouncing a ball idly on his racquet. He supposed he should have just been grateful the grouch had deemed it appropriate to show up at all... "Oi, Akutsu-kun~ Shouldn't you go see who's so eager to see you?"

"As though I don't already fucking know," Akutsu sighed, rolling his eyes. "Thought I'd be free of the brat by now..."

"What?" Sengoku blinked, then looked over to the impatient boy. "You mean... that's Dan-kun?"

"Who else could it damn well be?" Akutsu snapped, then caught the ball mid-bounce into his hand. "I'm on my fucking way," he called out just as the boy seemed to be about to shout a third time. "Keep your fucking pants on..."

Some cringed at Akutsu's language, but the boy just seemed satisfied with this. Sengoku squinted at him.

"Well, what do you know, it really is Dan-kun," he said cheerfully. "And in Hibana Chuu's uniform if I'm not too badly off~ That's some way from here, he must have come over especially to see you, Akuchu~"

"Call me that again and I'll knock your teeth off," Akutsu murmured while brushing past him somewhat more roughly than was entirely necessary. "Now get out of the way."

"Hai, hai." Sengoku grinned a bit as he watched Akutsu walk towards the boy. Around them, most people had already resumed their regular practice, though they still kept stealing glances at the strange guest.

"Dan-kun?" asked Muromachi from Sengoku's side, frowning. "Who's that?"

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten," Sengoku said with a dramatic sigh. "How could you possibly let yourself forget poor Dan-kun entirely? This is so cruel of you..." He then smirked a bit. "Remember that primary school kid who used to run around after Akutsu last year?"

"Oh, him!" Muromachi nodded, apparently indeed remembering. "You'd have thought Akutsu was made of gold and chocolate or something, the way he chased him around... you mean that's him?" He glanced over to the spot Akutsu was currently heading towards. "But... why'd he go to Hibana? I mean, he was in Yamabuki's primary school, wasn't he? And if he adored Akutsu so much... and Hibana's not so far from here it could be just his parents moving or something."

"I don't know, sadly enough," Sengoku admitted. "Though, you know... now I'm curious. Why isn't he here?" Knowing better and not really caring, he started to walk after Akutsu. "Guess I'd better find out from the kid himself~"

By the time Sengoku reached the two, Akutsu and Dan were already talking – well, Dan was talking and Akutsu didn't seem about to beat him to the ground, which was always a bonus when dealing with Akutsu. However, as Dan saw him, the boy's brown eyes lit up even more brightly. "Sengoku-san!" he said cheerfully. "It's good to see you again~"

"You too, Dan-kun." Sengoku grinned, completely ignoring Akutsu's dirty glare. "I was so sure I'd have you for a cute little kouhai this year~ Why would you abandon us?" Though he had to admit Dan didn't look half bad in his school uniform. Maybe that was one point for Hibana...

"You can blame Akutsu-senpai for that desu," Dan replied, tilting his head to the side. "I'm just keeping my half of the promise~ And I see he's still keeping his," he added with a grin.

"Promise?" Sengoku blinked. "What promise?"

Either completely oblivious or perfectly ignoring Akutsu's continuing glares, Dan just smiled happily. "Akutsu-san said he was going to stop tennis last year, right? Because it was too boring?"

"Yeah," Sengoku agreed, nodding slowly. He did remember something like that. Nobody had dared question Akutsu when he'd eventually shown up the next year, too, though. "What of it?"

"Well... I asked him not to stop desu," Dan said, the slightest adorable flush on his cheeks. The boy would totally steal some really cute girl's heart one day, Sengoku was sure. "And he said that if I could come against him in another school's team this year, he'd still be here in Yamabuki's team to play against me."

"...So you switched schools." Sengoku blinked. "But... why Hibana? Isn't that awfully competitive?"

"Well, I did think about it for a while desu," Dan replied. "It had to be close enough for me to attend, but not in the same district preliminary area so I'd have time to actually make my way into the team proper. And it had to have a good enough tennis team to make it far enough to finally at least face Yamabuki... after taking all the data into account, Hibana was the most logical choice desu."

"But the idiot's right," Akutsu pointed out, tapping Dan lightly over the head with a racquet. The kid hardly even blinked. "Hibana's good enough to hold out until facing Yamabuki, yes, but that's because they're a fucking phenomenon. Their damn King and Emperor are on par with Rikkai's bloody two demons. There's no way a runt like you can make it as a regular in a team of that level – and if you aren't playing, our deal is fucking off."

"Ano... actually, that's why I came here to talk with you today." Dan smiled brightly.

"...No. I'm not giving in on this." Akutsu glared at the kid. Dan still didn't even seem to notice.

"Actually... that's not it." Dan slid the tennis bag he'd been carrying off his shoulder, setting it on ground and crouching down to open it. "The reason I came here today is to show you something." Taking something out of the bag, he proudly displayed it to Akutsu and Sengoku. "Da-da-da-dan!" he said cheerfully. "I just got this today desu~"

Sengoku... stared, for a moment. What Dan was holding up was... a tennis jacket. A red jacket, with a white hood and crossing stripes at the front, and a white patch on one sleeve with a simple kanji embroidered on in flaming red. It was... the jacket of Hibana's tennis club.

Sengoku just couldn't help bursting out into laughter as he saw Akutsu's dumb-founded expression.

To be exact... it was the jacket of Hibana's tennis club's regular team.

"...Okay. Where the Hell did you steal that from?" Akutsu ground out. "They have another midget on the team?"

"Oh, no, that's just Hyoutei desu," Dan replied brightly. "There was some trouble with doubles in our team~ Nobody wanted to play with one of the regulars since they thought he's too violent, but the singles spots are all pretty much spoken for. He challenged me to a match and the captain happened to see desu~ And, well, now they want us to train to be a doubles pair desu!"

"Well, I'll be." Sengoku grinned. "And I thought I was the lucky one here~"

"But you are," Dan protested. "After all, you're the one who gets to deal with Akutsu-san!" Though the kid smiled, there was something in his expression that made Sengoku suspect Dan was all too well aware how very little most people thought of his favourite ex-senpai. He just... didn't care.

"Apparently so, for another while at least," Sengoku laughed. "We'll be sure to put up a fight against you, Dan-kun!"

"I'm sure you will~" Dan chimed. "But, well, since I now see Akutsu-san's keeping up his end of the agreement, I guess I'll have to be off desu~ I have to get home, still, and I'm already late. I'll see you, Sengoku-san, Akutsu-san~" With little more, he packed up his precious new jacket again, waved, and hurried off.

Sengoku looked after the boy. He certainly seemed the same as the year before, still just as small and cheerful and absolutely adoring of Akutsu. But... something had changed. He seemed more confident, somehow, if one could say he'd ever not been confident, the way he'd never thought twice about bugging Akutsu however he saw fit. "So... care to tell me why?"

Akutsu grunted, not asking him to elaborate. "If he'd stayed in Yamabuki around me, there's no fucking way he would have even started playing yet, never mind made a bloody regular," he replied. "The kid's got potential. Anyone can bloody see it except him."

"So you decided to push him into playing." Sengoku couldn't help but grin. "So selfless of you, Akuchu~"

"Hey, it got him off my back," Akutsu murmured. He was still looking after where Dan had vanished off to. "...And I told you I'd knock off your teeth if you called me that again."

"...You wouldn't dare destroy my charming smile."

"Try me." The punch Akutsu gave his shoulder was not exactly gentle.

Well. Good to know at least something was still the same in the world.


End file.
